Our aim is to continue to apply resonance Raman spectroscopy to probe the molecular basis of visual excitation. We plan to complete our investigations of the thermal intermediates using photostationary mixtures at low temperatures with UV as well as visible lasers. We have also devised a new technique to obtain pure kinetic intermediates. This new double beam flow technique should overcome the problems we have encountered in obtaining spectra of lumirhodopsin. The conformational analysis that is an essential part of our experiments will be based on a continuing series of model system studies to characterize the ground state vibrational frequencies and the role of the excited state in the intensities observed in the ground state spectrum. Finally we hope to analyze kinetically all the intermediates using kinetic resonance Raman spectroscopy. As we have recently shown kinetic resonance Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique that can follow kinetic transformations in local regions of the retinylidene chromophore. These experiments should transform the normally static resonance Raman spectra into a powerful probe of local dynamic changes in the retinylidene chromophore.